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What do you see as the downside of tubes?

I have decided on getting a tube amp and it will be the integrated Mastersound 300B driving a pair of Living Voice Avatars, so at least that decision has been taken.

My main question is what you see as downsides of having a tube amp. As I've decided on getting an integrated tube it's really about what the downsides are I might want to know about beforehand.

The ones I'm aware are the following.

-The tubes need to be replaced and in the case of a 300B this will be somewhat costly.

-Bias is another issue but I'm not sure how big an issue. Do you plug in your meter every so often or just when you roll tubes or replace a dead one? The meter as such isn't gonna be a big issue as I don't think it's that expensive.

-Heat won't be a big issue as we have no kids nor a nosy dog that could get burned. Hope my electricity bill isn't gonna go through the roof, but then again, I can't quite imagine that.

I'd appreciate if you could add whatever your experiences are regarding this question are as I'd like to know more before I buy it.

Thanks
krauti
unsound
7,318 posts
 
F1a, not smoking anything, must be the second hand smoke from fellow audiophiles burnt tubes. Seriously, as Fpeel noted, nothing I posted hasn't been reported before.
spatialking's avatar
spatialking
610 posts
 
I have both types of amps in my living room. I find the biggest problem with my CJs are the fact that I can't leave them on 24/7 playing music like I do my solid state system.

Heat is another matter. In the winter time, there is enough heat that the furnace doesn't turn on. Which leaves the rest of the house cold since the thermostat is in the same room as the tube amps.

In the summer time, the AC runs all the time when they are on. So, in addition to spending extra electricity money to run the tube amps I also spend even more money to remove the heat from the room. So, in the summer I either don't use them or just turn the AC off. I live in the Bay Area in CA, so you have an idea of what I mean.

Yeah, I do have to replace tubes but that is less $$ than buying a phono cartridge and about equal to having my speakers surround replaced. Actually, now that I think about it, the cost is way less than the money I spent on CDs that I don't listen to because they are such bad recordings. I don't see cost as a big issue for the tubes.

But, heat and limited on time is a biggie. On the other hand, the sound is so much better than my Class D home theater system that it is worth it, really.
pehare's avatar
pehare
833 posts
 
sorry jafox, i should have been more specific...power tubes are fused & yes I've owned ARC where a shorted power tube took out a resistor. i can understand the CAT & ARC purist approach but not particularly user friendly imo.
jburidan
803 posts
 
Good NOS tubes are becoming scarce.
mordante
511 posts
 
I have never owned any tube gear and I think I'll never will. Tube amps have to much much of a own sound signature. They may have sound beautiful and lush and warm. But when I play some ear bleeding trash metal I don't want a full bodied liquid warm sound. I want ear shattering screaming highs, window shattering lows. etc.

I know I am a bit over the top, but to my ears tube have a tendency to make music more listener friendly/warmer/more lush then the music really is. Maybe, just maybe a tube pre-amp would be acceptable but tubes to not belong in power amps.

Also tube gear of equal quality to ss gear is more expensive. You can buy a decent integrated ss amp for $1000 I don't know any decent tube integrated amp for $1000
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